


Lich

by lilylights



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: And why Taako isnt one, Angst, Gen, Post-Canon, Talk about liches, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, a little depressing but nothing explicit, just talk about, sorta - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-31
Updated: 2018-03-31
Packaged: 2019-04-16 11:23:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14163771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilylights/pseuds/lilylights
Summary: Kravitz asks why Taako didn't become a lich with Lup and Barry.





	Lich

**Author's Note:**

> Hey first taz fic but I'm trying to write more so here's something short. Tell me if I need to tag something or there is a mistake. I'm new to posting on ao3. Thanks for reading. :)

"Why just them?"

"What was that, babe?" Taako said absentmindedly, distracted by the french braid he was tying his hair into before bed.

"Barry and Lup. They chose to turn into liches. But neither during the Day of Story and Song nor when you all explained it to me was it mentioned why only Barry and Lup chose to turn, not you..." Kravitz trailed off as he registered that the fingers that had been nimbly braiding Taako's golden tresses had frozen. 

"I mean I'm glad – that you didn't I mean. it just you and Lup seemed to do everything together. And I – oh god, sorry. That's not my business." Kravitz backtracked quickly. What was he thinking, you didn't just ask why someone did not become an immortal necromantic energy spirit. "Forget it–"

"Calm down, hon, cool your jets." Taako let his hands return to their work. The silence continued for so long Kravitz was sure the subject had been dropped, but as Taako tied off his second braid, he casually said "I guess it just never came up. Lulu and Barold have always been better at all that soul magics than me. You know cha'boi is better with shit he can see."

Taako stood from in front of his mirror and stalked towards the reaper on the bed. "And at the moment," Taako purred, eyes raking across Kravitz' bare chest. "This elf sees something he definitely likes." 

Kravitz happily let the conversation go, glad that his lover wasn't upset, and let himself be thoroughly distracted.

– – – – –

A few days later, the question had refused to leave his mind. He had kept it to himself so far – after all, he knew Taako liked his privacy – but something was still bugging him. After him and his newest reaper sent off the last soul of a small necromantic cult on the outskirts of Rockport, he hesitantly decided to bring it up.

"Lup? Could I ask you a question?"

"Whatcha need bone-chief?" Lup said, looking up at him questioningly.

"It's about Taako... or well, you and Barold as well? It's just, I asked Taako the other day why you two chose to be liches, but Taako did not?" Kravitz was already regretting bringing this up, but it was too late now.

Lup's face had settled into contemplation as she finished wiping ash from her scythe. "What did Taako say?" She asked him.

"He said you two were better at soul magics, that he is better at working with things he can see?" Kravitz let his brows furrowed as his words twisted into a question at the end. "I don't mean to pry – but Taako is an incredibly powerful wizard, as powerful as the two of you as far as I know, and I just wondered..."

Lup sighed, settling herself along a counter at the side of the room. "That is true to some extent, I was always more interested in the metaphysical side of magic, whereas Taako specialized in more matter based archanea." She rubbed her eyes before continuing, "But you are correct. Even if it is not his specialty, Taako was definitely powerful enough to complete the transition alongside us. The question wasn't of power, but of what was needed to maintain and control it." 

Lup bit her lip before looking back up at Kravitz. "You have to understand, we were out there for decades before me and Barry thought of this idea. Dozens of cycles, and at the end of every one everything we had spent a year living alongside would be consumed or lost to us at least. After a while, well, we all had our own coping mechanisms."

She slid down the wall she had been leaning against, until she was sitting on the stone floor. After a moment's hesitation, Kravitz joined her. 

"Lucy had her journals, Davenport focused into maintaining the ship, Magnus threw himself into any fight he came across, Merle sometimes spent more time with plants than people. Me and Barry, we had our research, and each other later. But Taako... well he likes to pretend he doesn't care, but you know that's not true." She looked through her bangs at him sitting beside her. 

Though the question was rhetorical, Kravitz responded. "Yes. He puts a lot of effort into covering up any genuine emotions. I can see through it now, and he does it a little less with me, but yes."

Lup gives a small nod. "After a while of the seeming endless cycles, Taako just gave up on caring. He still did everything he could to help us gather the light and fight the hunger, but he shut himself off. I guess he decided that if he didn't let himself really care about anything, nothing could hurt him. The worlds we visited, the civilizations, the individuals good and bad, he just started seeing them as dust. That's what he'd call them. Just dust. Temporary. No reason to get attached." Lup shrugged. "Not the healthiest coping mechanism, but by that point none of us were at our best."

Things Kravitz had half-guessed or just wondered about Taako were slotting into place with this explanation, but that still left... "And the lich thing?"

Lup glanced at him with a wry grin. "Liches feed off emotion, like those two creeps were doing in Wonderland. The difference with me and Barry was that instead of feeding off negative emotions, we depended on the positive ones to keep us together. As long as we kept ourselves tethered emotionally, we could stay present, stay sane." A genuine smile flitted across her face. "That's why before we did it, I had Taako give me the 'best day ever'. I knew I'd need positive memories and bonds like that to keep me tethered. Barry did the same. And I did for him. We spent months just talking about the things we would hold on to; the bonds and memories that would give us that passion we needed to stay grounded." 

Kravitz was starting to understand. "And Taako..." He stopped, as Lup met his eyes.

"Taako didn't have that passion anymore. We didn't talk about it, mind. But we all knew. I wanted to ask him to join us at first, after all, we did everything together our whole lives. But as me and Barry researched what it would take, I knew I couldn't take that chance with him." She was looking off into the distance, "I think he knew too. We never talked about it. I wondered if he'd ask after I told him the plan, but he never did." 

Kravitz put his arm around her shoulder. He wasn't usually one for initiating contact, but he pulled her to his side. Sh startled at the touch, as if coming back from her memories, but let him pull her into his side. 

"Aw, bone-chief. Don't get soft on me now." She gave him a forced grin.

He ignored the attempt at humor, used to the deflection from her brother. "Thank you for telling me this, Lup."

"Yeah well, Taako cares about you and you care about him, and gods know he needs someone to take care of him sometimes." She smiled to soften the dig. "And anyway, he's been so much better recently, and I think a lot of that has to do with you. For someone dead, you really bring him to life." She huffed a laugh at her goof, and lets himself smile back. 

"I'm glad. He is one of the most remarkable people I've ever met. And I really have grown to care about him an awful lot."

"It shows, skeletor." Lup said, pinching his cheek for a moment before bouncing up to her feet. "Okay my dude, let's go finish the paperwork on this mission so I can get back home to my own boo, and you can go give my brother a fucking hug."

Kravitz smiled, and rose to join her on his feet. "That sounds splendid."


End file.
